Your Thoughts on Floating Debris Avoidance?

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Collision bags Don... come up with something that inflates instantly on impact like a cars airbag and you'll have a winner...
Extra handy on bows for bad parkers....

I would think they would need to inflate before hitting the boat. So it involves proximty sensors and complex computer logic systems!............ Sounds like more profit per sale!

[Hannah on 'Rita T']

We encountered a floating refrigerator on the west wall of the Gulf Stream. I have always felt badly that we didn't go back and sink it.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Get a geiger counter - depending on wind direction will give you advance warning of Japanese debris

[Nicholson58]

I think you mean "reactive armor" as is used on tanks. It would both save the boat and wake you up. Any good against pirates?

Years ago, night racing on Lake Erie from Cedar Point to Mentor Headlands we passed a whole large tree about 7 miles off Cleveland. The roots and bows were back lighted by the Indians stadium lights. We passed less than 50 yards north of it. It was otherwise totally invisible. We learned later that another boat hit it square. It was forced under the keel and floated up between the rudder and keel. I have no idea how they extricated themselves from it without a chain saw.

You can tell its a Friday - Sunday (Michigan). Weather is like a bad day in November. Cold rain here and up to 1 inch of snow tonight. Maybe I can start boat jobs in June?

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by boatman61

LOL.... that was a reference to the floating house's and cars.... the crap problem exists everywhere from giant tractor wheels to freezers dumped with their lids closed (English Channel)... and wooden pallets abound.. handy though... some are made with really good timber... which I sometimes grab.
Trees are common along N.Spain and Portugals coast during heavy winter rains... seen them up to 50m offshore...

Then we got some nice round fenders there too, except many were way to big for our boat. I bet they come off trawlers.

!

A bit further down the road, if you go at the right time, you might be able to pick up a near mint sailing boat too - every year ARC participants ...

;-)

b.

[Sabbatical II]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Wonndering who is throwing the oil cans (which I name barrels), seen them too.

I spoke to the deckhand on a 46' charter powercruiser in Port Douglas a few years back who commented that they had just delivered the vessel from New Zealand to Australia. When I inquired as to how they carried enough fuel I was told that this was no problem. They had extra fuel in 205 litre drums lined up on the back deck. As they emptied them they just flipped them overboard.....and now the vessel is conducting "eco-tours" around the Barrier Reef.

Greg

[sww914]

Floating debris is real and some of it can pose a problem for us cruisers, but the green media make it sound like you can walk 1/2 way across the Pacific on the floating junk. It's just not true. I read an article recently where the author actually went on a boat to the Pacific "plastic island" and looked at what is there. Most of the other writers have simply repeated exaggerated claims, further exaggerating them. What he saw was a great deal of plastic in the water but 99% of it was less than 1/4" in size. Mostly you could travel through it and not even notice it unless you looked down into the water.

[rebel heart]

We have a collision mat and a pretty powerful manual bilge pump (edson 30). Some two part epoxies and in the Navy I was trained in basic damage control.

That being said, if you tear a big enough hole in the boat it can sink within a minute. Not much to do about that. Grab the ditch bag, sat phone, flip the EPIRB on, and hope the SAR helicopter isn't too far away.

The chances of hitting something are minuscule. Far better odds of getting a heart attack from a bad diet, too much drink, and not enough exercise. People fixate on weird things.

[rebel heart]

Cool book on Steven Calahan being lost at sea for 76 days after his sailboat hit a partially submerged object. Container? Whale? I don't think he ever found out. Point was that by the time he got off the boat the decks were awash.

Amazon.com: Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea (9780618257324): Steven Callahan: Books

[David M]

It may be a little overblown, just like the odds of getting pirated while transiting the gulf of Aden. I would not go to sea without a raft though.

[cburger]

Struck a submerged log on the Hudson River early one Sunday morning full sail going about 5 knots into direct sunlight, never saw it coming. Had a couple of kids up on the foredeck signing songs, the boat and songs instantly came to a dead stop with the spruce mast shaking. The boat, a british built Cornish Crabber had a full length shallow keel, with a 1/2 inch thick bronze grounding strap, built like a little tank. Log hit the bow, was pushed under the keel an popped up off the stern. When the "Quarter Moon" was hauled for inspection there was not so much as a scratch. Hate to think what would of happened if I would have been sailing one of those funny little fin keeled, spade rudder types.

Moral of the story is keeping a weather eye is all good, but its the ones you don't see that getcha, sail a strong boat if your going out there.

[barnakiel]

Yep. I too think the danger is out there and real. I think if we had hit the things (as seen) floating there could have been substantial damage - and we have a relatively overbuilt boat (long keel, no flat sections, no freestanding rudder, etc.).

I have seen a couple of paper boats damaged on stones and rocks around here - I think when one of such hits a UFO, that's it for the boat. No saying they are not seaworthy or anything but when they do hit something the damage can be surprisingly large.

I think a strong boat is a huge advantage for all offshore work except racing.

b.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Leventdelamort

Re: Your Thoughts on Floating Debris Avoidance?

I recommend the practice (of avoiding floating debris).

[capn_billl]

I think that if you are going the same direction as the current that is carrying the debris, the odds of hitting it are fairly small. You could also track the debris field across the pacific by the carrying current, and do crossings at a different latitude.

The experience I had with debris, was about 6 months after hurricane Ike, I ran across someone's wooden deck, It was more than 30' across including railings and attached wooden stairway. It was invisible, (floating right at the surface), until I was almost right on it. No time to turn or stop. I pulled throttles to idle and put drives in neutral. and ran right over it. There was a loud bump and scraping sound and I was past it. Then I noticed my knotmeter had gone to ZERO, and the bilge alarm went off. I ran downstairs, and saw the thruhull knotmeter had been broken and pushed out. Fortunately I had a right sized plug hanging on the wire, ( I use it when I pull the knotmeter for service), and quickly stopped the leak. When I started back up I had some vibration. Later at a hual out one drive shaft was tweaked, and the prop had a damaged blade, (the tip was bent over), and one half of the hull had no barnacles, (or paint). This is a plastic boat going 20 knots, (probably 12 at impact). It didn't sink me, but it could have if I hadn't been prepaired.

If I had thought ahead there hadn't been any debris reports for several months, but the deck could have been on shore or hung up somewhere and floated free on a high tide. The moral is go slow and keep a good lookout.

If someone wanted to make some money a good forward looking "collision" sonar that looks from waterline to bottom of keel would be a good thing.

[Mark Johnson]

Originally Posted by SurferShane

I am in a similar situation, but sometimes there is not much you can do with semi-submerged objects etc. I managed to pick up something huge on my prop in rainwater months back. While it instantly fractured an already stressed engine mounts and I am sure my prop shaft is bent the nature of the object still remains a mystery. Maybe it is time to invest in a feathering prop?

AND a CV joint! If you hit or snag something with your prop, none of the load is trying to snatch the transmission bearings out, or rip the engine off of it's feet. The impact goes to the massive CV joint and engine beds.
M.